Burnout 3 Update

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Game of the Year? Sure thing, why not. Yeah, it owns.

By Hilary Goldstein

By now faithful IGN readers have probably figured out that we love Burnout 3: Takedown. When last we played Burnout 3 a few weeks ago, the majority of our time was spent listening to various details on the many improvements made. We spent almost no time on the single-player races, instead focusing on the joys of Crash Mode, which are just top of the pops. But there is a whole other piece of Burnout 3 that we didn't have a chance to experience -- the single-player racing modes.

Last year, I felt that Crash Mode was more exciting than the races, and dominated more of my time. This year, as great as the improved Crash Mode may be, I have to say that the racing has gone to the next level. It has perhaps even peaked with Burnout 3 -- it's hard to imagine what more could be done with the concept.

There are a few different race types, but my favorite is Road Rage. The idea is that there are other competing cars on any of a variety of large tracks, taking you through various cities in the U.S., Europe, and Far East. Your goal is to take down the other racers (hence the title), but they will also be gunning for you. Weaving through oncoming traffic to build your Burnout meter, you'll need to nudge your opponents into walls and even force them into posts to crush them. Each takedown brings a slow-motion clip of your opponent being fragged.

Zipping through the various cities is an awesome experience, one that feels even faster than Burnout 2, if that's even possible. But the strategy in taking out enemies can get intense. In the last Burnout, other racers would often try and cause accidents in front of you to screw you over. Now it's your turn! If you are craft, you can try and force civilian cars to swerve into your opponents and if you are daring you can try and slightly clip cars to get them to cause a mess for opponents behind you. Heck, you can even sacrifice yourself by pulling in front of an opponent and slamming the brakes.

The AI is very aggressive in each of the race modes and even in a standard race it often turns into a destruction derby. What better way to gain an advantage on your opponent then to race side-by-side and force them into an oncoming semi? It's a thing of beauty. But it isn't just about crashing into things. In fact, you really need to have superb racing skills to win and you absolutely must drive fast. Without boosts you'll be toast and if you do crash more than a few times, you'll be stuck in last place.

The control is about as perfect as I could ask for. My only wish would be for a better powerslide ability. It's arcadey, but I have to say is more fun than Gran Turismo or a majority of other sims. And lord does it look pretty. The PS2 version looks like a top-tier Xbox game. Fantastic speed, superb lighting, amazing crashes -- can someone hand me a Kleenex?

The environments come with a large amount of variety. My favorite so far is Island Paradise in the Far East, that features a run through some tight city roads and a drive through the wilderness, with sunlight filtering through the tree leaves without slowing down the 60 frames per second one bit. Still several months from release, Burnout 3 runs as if it came out yesterday. How it will run online is another thing, but that will be tested soon enough.

Burnout 3: Takedown is among IGN's most highly-anticipated games of the year. We want it and so should you. No, really -- you need this game if you in any way like racers. Forget GT 4 and Forza, Burnout 3 is where it's at.